The Absurdity of Human Expectations: Translation - You expected me to do/think/feel what?

I realize that I am not old enough to be considered wise. I certainly don't claim to be a sage. So, if what I have to say is full of holes, then please let me know.

In my relatively short life, I have noticed that the majority of human conflict and disappointment is caused by unmet expectations. These expectations are often too high and unattainable, or worse, they are never made known to the people or groups they are placed upon. One of the common situations in which we display such error in judgment is in our marriages. I am sure I'm not the only one who has placed undue expectations upon my unknowing spouse, only to act hurt when he doesn't meet them. If you don't identify with me, then please keep your perfection to yourself.

As unfair as it is for me to judge my spouse based on my secret expectations, it is equally unfair for strangers to hold any of us to any secret expectations. It is even more reprehensible when family members do this to us.

Have you ever taken a test without knowing what would be on it? Have you ever gone to a movie without having some foreknowledge of the plot or the characters? Do you ever go in for a job interview without first knowing what the job is?

If you answered any of those questions with "NO," then it must be because the more you know of what to expect, the more you can prepare!

Now, what does it all mean? Let's face it - when people get upset with us because we didn't meet their secret expectations, there really is no way to win. How can we be expected to make anyone happy, or at minimum, not angry. I guess the only way to avoid such conflict is to avoid the situations that create it. Or, we could cease to have hidden expectations and simply love people for who they are (faults and all). You would think that in a family, this would be a given - an absolute - a DUH! Unfortunately, we are humans. And humans fail.

God has given us His forgiveness when we do not meet His expectations. The big difference is that God has given us His specific expectations in his word! Knowing what God expects of us can be found through reading the Bible and through hearing Him speak to us. He has a right to be disappointed. He's the only one who can determine if I'm living up to them or not, because He created the expectations! I have no excuse for not doing what I've been instructed to do. However, unlike God's expectations for me, I cannot meet human expectations that have not been made known to me.

If only I had time to Write!

Wow! What a week of highs and lows. I've got tons of stuff buzzing through this brain of mine, but I really don't have the time right now to wax philosophical with you!

However, for a great read, please read Beth Moore's recent blog post: Just Dreaming!

I don't know where to start...

I really want to vent some major emotion today, but I'm trying to restrain myself. I found out some very disturbing information this morning and I would like to spew words of anger and disgust, but God is working on me! It's hard to know how to express this emotion without saying something I'll regret. Some people just amaze me with their level of maturity, or lack thereof. Why can people not act their age? I admire my husband because he can handle this kind of thing much better than I can. He is always the voice of reason when it comes to saying the right things in this situation. Unfortunately, this particular struggle has gone on way too long. I think that it is time to settle things once and for all. Please pray that I'll know how to handle this.

One Man's Leaves are Another Man's... LEAVES!

Ugh! Don't get me wrong, I like trees. In fact, I almost chose a career that was based on trees - forestry. I border on tree-hugger status.

However, it is the lovely little remnants of trees that have my focus today. It never seems to fail. I live in a house with no trees in the yard, yet I find myself having to rake mega bunches of leaves from other yards on my street. Not fair! I realize that when a leaf falls from a tree it can land wherever the wind takes it. I find no fault with the leaf itself. My problem is with the nearest neighbors who choose not to take care of their own leaves and instead put them off on me. You know, I think they actually use blowers to blow them out of their yard and onto mine. In fact, we had one rude passer-by that allowed some already bagged leaves to fall into our front yard. Of course, upon landing the bag busted and spewed its contents onto our lawn. Today, I raked up two huge bags of leaves and have another pile waiting to be bagged.

God made the trees and God made the leaves. I just wish that I didn't have to break my back raking them.

Monday Musings

Back to the real world and real routine. It was nice being away at convention, now it's time to get back to life as normal. We actually managed to get up and work out this morning. I feel like I am on a weight-loss yo-yo! It is so frustrating. Hey, at least I feel better, right?

Patrick passed his audition on Friday. He now will have about 40 days to go to Military Enlistment Processing Station. If he passes everything there, he will be sworn in as a soldier in the US Army. Whew! It is going to be an intense month while we work out and try to get in shape for that. MEPS was the step last year that prevented him from joining the Army. He didn't pass the hearing test and that led to a surgery to repair his hearing. We are praying that God's will is done this time around, no matter what that means. Of course, we're pulling for the Army, but ultimately we want to follow God's direction.

On to the bizarre news of my week. Most of you know that Patrick and I have not been able to have children for whatever reason. Out of nowhere last week, we received a packet of "Baby" coupons in the mail. It was addressed to us. They are coupons for expectant mothers. I don't know how we got onto that list because we obviously aren't expecting at this time. As if that wasn't weird enough, we received more mail when we got back from convention. This time it was from the Welcome Addition Club (for expectant mothers). It included a free can of Similac. I guess we'll be donating that to the church's food pantry. Unless there's something we don't know about, I'm pretty sure we won't be needing that anytime soon.

Well, better get going now. Happy Monday to you all! Enjoy Presidents' Day!

New routines, new passions...

It's been so long since I've posted much. There is so much going on. Okay, not really, I've just been placing other things ahead of blogging in my list of priorities.

Just a quick update for my readers.

Patrick and I are in our fourth week of mostly consistent exercise. The alarm goes off at 5:15 am and we eventually make it to the YMCA by 5:45 or so. It has been hard, but I feel much better. I haven't lost weight yet, but have so much more energy and feel great. It also jump starts my day.

Usually, we come home and I make breakfast burritos. Then, after Patrick leaves, I try to do work around the house or do my grocery shopping. I admit, there are some days where I just sit in a trance in front of the computer catching up on my favorite presidential candidate and reading my favorite bloggers (you know who you are). But, eventually I do get some work done. Some is always better than none... Right?

I'll quit with the boring stuff.

NEWS UPDATE: Patrick will be auditioning for the Army Band again next week. Probably on Feb. 15th while we are at convention in San Antonio. In case you weren't aware, he passed an audition last spring, but failed the hearing test during Medical Processing. So, after a miraculous surgery to repair his hearing, and another important sinus surgery that he needed, he is going to re-audition. If he passes the audition, he will have 45 days to go through processing again. We should know a bit more about our future by April.

Well, I have to go catch-up on a new passion of mine: the election. Never in my life have I cared about the election this early in the game, but I am very passionate about my candidate. I also never have been so frustrated by the voting process and the liberal media. I hope Texas gets a chance to say something in this process. How un-American and un-Democratic (not the party-the type of government)is it when most of Americans don't even get a say in the nomination experience because of the whole delegate zoo? Why don't we choose the nominee like we choose the actual president?

Here I go... I've already said more than I should. So, let me say bye-bye for now!

And, even though I'd never tell my readers what they should think... I am entitled to share my opinion:

GO, MIKE, GO!!!!
www.mikehuckabee.com

*Where. Intheworld. is. LiptonOnionSoupMix?

And if you can answer that, you can probably tell me where to find pesto, black olives, white shoe peg corn, dry mustard, and a host of other ingredients that I've been buying over the past month. Let's just say that my grocery shopping is taking more time with each visit than it used to when the USUAL was all that was on my list.

It's not that I'm especially inept at shopping, it's just that some of these things haven't been located where my feeble mind assumes they should be. Like the onion soup mix... I went to Walmart twice in the same day (long story) and asked two workers, my friend Julie, and a total stranger where I might find onion soup mix. Each had a different answer, and I tried all of them, including my first instinct. However, it took a last resort of asking another Walmart employee, and together we found it above the Raman(?)noodles.

So, needless to say, my new cooking adventures have been just that. Some meals have been super, others have been duds. Here are a few of the ones we've liked: BBQ Chicken Dinner Packets, Pepper Steak over Rice (crock pot meal), Meatball subs, Chicken Pesto Mushroom Bake, Baked Greek Tilapia, Russian Chicken (crock pot meal), Pepperoni Loaf (YEA, BABY), Sun Dried Tomato Chicken Pasta, and Corn & Sausage Chowder.

So far, only two duds: Swedish Meatballs (which we used for the subs mentioned in the super list, but the gravy on top of the first meal was YUCK!) and Meat & Three (crock pot meal that had a mistake listed in the ingredients). I think both of these could easily be changed to be better.

Now on to this week's menu... Tortellini & Sausage Soup, Slow Bake BBQ Chicken, Crunchy Chicken, Beef Macaroni Casserole (we'll substitute turkey), and Overnight Cinnamon French Toast (a do-ahead breakfast). Each meal has included alternating sides like steamed fresh broccoli, salad, and steamed fresh green beans (which are so much better than the canned junk).

If you are interested in any of the recipes, just let me know.

Yes, this post was started last week, I just now took the time to finish it...

*The title of this post is set to the beat of the title of a tv show from my childhood...Not hard to figure out!